Two Views on Family Diversity- Against Diversity

Functionalists and the new right are against Diversity in family and believe there is only one type of family the nuclear family

The nuclear Family consits of a married couple and thier children- with the man being the breadwinner and the women being the expressive role being the housewife and the childcarer

They see the nuclear family as being natural and that there is a biological difference between men and women that suit their expected roles and that this is a better way to help a family meet their needs o society

they see other types of family as unnatural and dysfunctional

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Two Views on Family Diversity- In Favour of Divers

This View is made by Postmodernists and Feminists and they reject the view that the nuclear family is the 'proper' family

In this view they see the family as not being 'natural' but that it is socially constructed by its members

They favour in greater diversity- such as Stacey who believe that it brings the people the freedom to choose what relationships they have and the ways they want to live

They also think this is a good way for women to free themselves from the oppression of the traditional patriarchal family

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China's One-child Policy

China's one-child policy is a way for the government to keep control of the population of China

They have discouraged couples from having more than one child within that relationship

Adrian Wilson(1985) shows that the policy is also supervised in a workplace as they have family planning committees

Women ask for their permission to try and become pregnant anmd there is a waiting list they have to be put on

Couple who follow this rule get extra benefits such as free child healthcare and also higher tax allowance

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China's One-Child Policy

However, Couples who break this rule and have more than one child they must repay the allowances and also pay a fine

women also have the pressure to undergo sterlisation after the birth of their fist child

The former communist government of romania introduced a series of policies to try and drive up the birth rate which had been declining

This restricted contraception and abortions they set up infertilty treatment centers and they also made divorce more difficult, lowered the marriage age to 15 and made unmarried and childless couples pay extra 5% income tax